The 2013 All-Tulare County volleyball player of the year led CVC to a Central Section Division III championship and the D-III state final last year as a junior. This summer her club team won the USA Volleyball Junior Nationals championship on July 3 in Minneapolis, Minn.

But resisting satisfaction in her constant pursuit to improve didn't stop Calvin from enjoying the moment.

"That was perfect ending for our team," Calvin said. "The moment is great. That's what you live for as an athlete. That pure joy just for that moment. That's what you work for."

Joining Calvin on the Bakersfield Volleyball Club were two other players from Tulare County high schools: CVC teammate Hailey Hilvers and Tulare Union's Taylor Slover.

With a Junior Nationals championship in hand, the trio will serve as three of the leading ladies back in Tulare County during the upcoming high school volleyball season.

SURGING SLOVER

Humble beginnings

Slover didn't recognize them at first.

She doesn't often take a good look at her opponents, so it was hard to pick them out of a crowd once they became teammates.

These were girls from Independence, the same Bakersfield high school that knocked Tulare Union out of the Valley playoffs. The revelation came as no surprise, as the Bakersfield Volleyball Club was headed by Independence coach Judy Rexroth.

But their contentious history didn't affect budding relationships between the new teammates. In fact, Slover's performance in that playoff defeat is what caught Rexroth's eye on the opposing sideline and earned her a tryout with the club.

"There wasn't any rivalry," Slover said. "We made friends real fast,"

Slover's rise to the junior national championship club level makes the start of her volleyball journey all the more surprising.

Now a senior on top of the volleyball world, Slover never played the sport before her freshman year at Tulare Union.

She only started playing volleyball because she wanted to be a three-sport athlete.

Back then, basketball and softball were her true loves. But that didn't stop her from devouring the ins and outs of the new activity.

"She was an athlete very eager to learn," Tulare Union volleyball coach Angela Webb said. "She was raw and willing to do everything I asked. I knew she had talent when I could ask her to perform a certain skill and she could do it pretty easily. She was such a sponge that she moved quickly through her development."

The better Slover became at volleyball, the more she fell in love with the sport.

Unfortunately, that meant a decision had to be made.

(Photo: John Noell)

Can't fight that feeling

Today's young athletes are rarely afforded the luxury of loving multiple sports.

Not if they want those sports to pay for a college education, anyway.

"The high school level is fun and enjoyable to play, but nowadays more athletes are being plugged into college programs through clubs," Webb said.

That concept proved true for Slover, who cashed in her year with the Bakersfield Volleyball Club for a full-ride scholarship to Fresno State — an offer she received Sunday and verbally committed to on Tuesday.

The decision to play club volleyball, however, required sacrifice.

In order to fully commit to volleyball, Slover decided to stop playing basketball.

"The beginning of my junior year is when I realized, 'Wow I can actually go somewhere in (volleyball).' That's what really prompted the decision (to drop basketball)," Slover said.

"It was definitely a hard decision. Coach Webb pushed me so hard to play club (volleyball) to the point of tears."

Slover cried.

She told Webb she didn't want to play club volleyball because she still wanted to be a three-sport athlete.

So Webb eased her in, allowing Slover to come to a few practices before fully committing.

That only made Slover's passion for her newfound love grow all the more.

"(Slover) plays for love of game which is hard to develop," Webb said.

"If she could play volleyball 24-7 and not go to classes that's probably what she'd do. She's definitely a gym rat. When she started to realize how good she was, the love came and the passion came. As she got better she realized her talent brought the satisfaction she needed from competition."

"It was a difficult choice for her to drop basketball. She really loved basketball and was torn to let that go. But she knew volleyball was where her calling was."

Slover's basketball coach tried to work around her new commitment, offering to allow her to miss practices to accommodate the schedule.

It wasn't enough.

Slover knew she needed to give 100 percent to volleyball.

"The decision was hard at the time, but I'm so thankful coach Webb kept pushing me," Slover said. "Where would I be without her?"

Now developed as a Junior Nationals champion and a Division I college recruit, Slover is ready to lead the Redskins — reigning undefeated East Yosemite League champs — to even greater heights.

Winning a Junior Nationals championship in her first year playing for the team was a "dream come true" for Slover. Now she faces the challenge of returning to the high school level, where the Redskins hope to continue their undefeated success in league from last year and build it into Valley playoff success this year.

Tulare Union graduated three seniors from last year, but returns most of its core along with its star player. Still, Slover knows it won't be easy.

"It's always hard to come off a club. It's going to be a struggle to go back to high school. It's going to be hard adjusting," Slover said.

"I think God is definitely going to be testing my patience this year."

Up in Visalia, Slover's BVC teammates Calvin and Hilvers will keep CVC as the ultimate test for all other area high school volleyball teams.

Central Valley Christian’s Hailey Hilvers(Photo: Rhea Quitasol)

CAVALIER COUPLE

Captain Calvin

Starting alongside Slover as a middle blocker for the Junior Nationals champions was team captain Calvin.

Like Slover, this was Calvin's first year playing for BVC, but it didn't take her long to rise to a leadership position on a team whose core had player together for four years.

That was no accident.

"Leadership is a choice," Calvin said. "It's other people looking up to you, but also you choosing to step up."

Rexroth said Calvin stepped in with great work ethic and her teammates responded. Her energy was contagious and her high volleyball IQ took her game to an even higher level.

The experience didn't impact Calvin's college recruitment process quite like it did for Slover, but that's because Calvin was already verbally committed to St. Mary's College of California — although terms of a scholarship have not been discussed yet.

Earlier this week she participated in St. Mary's volleyball camp with the program's other recruits.

"It's challenging. It's faster. It makes me really excited for college," Calvin said of the camp. "(St. Mary's had everything I was looking for. I liked the team, the coaches, the family atmosphere. I wanted a coach who cares about me personally and not just how hard I hit. (My St. Mary's teammates) are going to be my sisters for next few years."

Calvin said her experience with Bakersfield Volleyball Club helped prepared her for playing at the college level because it took her out of her comfort zone by exposing her to different coaches and playing styles.

The summer was especially helpful Hilvers, who was one of three sophomores playing up in the 18-and-under division for her first year of club volleyball.

"Minnesota was a great experience for us," Hilvers said. "It was really exciting for me to play up on the 18-and-under team since I was only a sophomore. I learned a lot and it was a great opportunity to play against some of the best girls in the United States."

But winning a Junior Nationals championship was much more than a learning experience.

Central Valley Christian’s Lindsey Calvin.(Photo: Rhea Quitasol)

All business

Calvin puts the national title on par with CVC's run to the state championship game.

Bakersfield Volleyball Club didn't necessarily expect to win it all, but that was its goal from the outset.

That's why winning — although rewarding — was not shocking to the team.

"To win any tournament is difficult. To win on that scale against best of best in nation in incredible," Rexroth said. "They were all business. After we won there wasn't even a huge celebration. It was impressive how focused they were."

Now Calvin and Hilvers are focused on returning to the high school state championship.

The road back will be much tougher without graduated seniors Taylor Van Den Berg and Tess Van Grouw, who both earned spots on the All-Tulare County first team in each of the last two years.

But the pair of returning Junior Nationals champions won't be satisfied to just sit back and enjoy the bliss of last year's state run or this summer's success.

"If you get stuck looking at what you've done you get trapped thinking that's good enough," Calvin said. "I do (think we can make another run at state). I have a lot of confidence in us. Each individual is a hard driven competitor. That's going to take us a long way. How far, I don't know. Really far."

Resisting satisfaction now will hopefully lead Calvin and Hilvers to another one of those moments they live for as athletes.